Through Friday, this week was looking like a can’t miss winner, as I’d already logged 43 miles and a great workout. Then exhaustion hit and planned weekends runs of 20+ and 10+ pathetically faded to a day off and an easy 5 miler. Read on to see what went down.

Synopsis of Week’s Training:The week began with a Memorial Day run out on my favorite stretch of trail in the Shenandoahs – the climb up Neighbor Mountain from Jeremy’s Run. I had planned to run Neighbor Mtn repeats, but I bagged it after one trip due to heat and, more importantly, my bum rib.

Tuesday, I ran from The Firm after work in hopes of meeting with another Goat (Haverford rather than the WSGMRT variety) for a run from Pacer’s, the running store where he works. I miss timed things thinking that The Firm was closer to Pacers and ended up pushing the 5 miles to the store only to find out my buddy left half an hour early that day!

Another Wardian Wednesday morning run, another moderately paced 10 miles. While I hate getting out of bed at 5:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. is ok), I never regret making it out for these runs.

Damn, I forgot how much I love the track and running “fast!” For the fourth straight week I hit the track and reeled off 5 consecutive miles between 6 and 6:10. This week’s bonus mile was added in light of a new challenge that popped up earlier in the week. It turns out I will be pacing Andy Jones-Wilkins for 40 miles rather than 20 miles in just four weeks at the Western States 100. I’ll be ready, but in the mean time I’ll keep concentrating on some faster paced training as well as work on building up my confidence.

Friday dawned with no rest for the weary. Dreamchaser Jay Batchen was in town and Wardian got himself, Jay, and I together for an morning run in Potomac Overlook Park. I really enjoy POP early in the morning and got my heart rate up as Iron Mike worked me on its hills.

Ok, I got my rest for the weary on Saturday. Despite going to bed on time, I didn’t get up early for my planned long run. Long story short, I never made it out to run. Instead, I took a two hour nap, got lots done around the house, and went to bed early. While I didn’t fare much better running wise on Sunday, I was part of a trail running photo shoot with some of my WUS friends. Basically, I got half naked, slathered myself in stinky mud, and stood around looking pretty (ugly) for four hours. As luck would have it, one couldn’t have asked for a nicer morning for mud slathering and standing around in the woods. In the evening I logged my first run with my roommate… it only took a month after she moved in. I was still sleepy and only ran an easy 5. Apparently I was really tired.

The Week of June 2-8, 2008 While the end of last week left a sour taste in my mouth, this week left me smiling. At this point in my training, any week with 5 days of...

The Week of May 12-18, 2008 Synopsis of Week’s Training:This week’s running did not turn out exactly as planned, but the deviations were probably for the better and it was a great week nonetheless. Read on...